diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fae1000b..cd1f1079 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ missing
 src/.deps/
 stamp-h1
 
+# put specific macros in the m4 directory back in
+!m4/ax_*
+
 # ignoring more files generated by the configure script or the make actions
 .libs/
 src/.dirstamp